The 5th stage of the 2014 Tour de France was expected to be hard. However, no one expected just how difficult this stage would be for the cyclists, not did they expect how much fun it would be to watch!
The route began in Belgium before reaching a harrowing stretch of Paris-Roubaix has seen a number of riders go down on a rainy day. The course was adjusted to eliminate nearly 2.5 kilometers worth of cobblestones because of expected bad weather, but slippery roads and a tight peloton meant that danger was ever-present. Because of the terrible conditions, a few riders went down nearly every turn.
Chris Froome was among the high percentage to crash. Unfortunately, after his second crash of the day, Froome abandoned the Tour because of a wrist injury. The way he was holding it seemed to be a fracture but there is no definitive answer as of yet.
There race was full of notable crashes. Sébastien Minard skidded near a roundabout and lost his bike under him. Marcel Kittel did the same round a corner, breaking his cleats. With 70km to go, as the peloton split as it swept around a giant roundabout there were crashes on both sides of the road, including two main race contenders Alejandro Valverde and Tejay van Garderen.
Lars Boom of Team Belkin won the stage today with a 19 second lead on Vincenzo Nibali, the yellow jersey holder.